More than 54,000 New Names Added to Wisconsin's Unclaimed Property List. Might You Be on the List?

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Might you have forgotten money? State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass is printing the names of over 54,000 Wisconsinites who have unclaimed property representing more than $37.5 million dollars. Over the course of the next 6 to 8 weeks the latest unclaimed property names for each county will be printed in each county’s major paper. For Milwaukee County alone, a special 20 page insert was printed in the Sunday, April 5th edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel listing 14,000 Milwaukee County names with unclaimed property.

“Every April and May we print the names of unclaimed property owners that arrived during the prior calendar year,” said Treasurer Sass. “Because April is a major month for printing unclaimed property names, I’ve declared the month of April as Unclaimed Property Awareness Month and I encourage every Wisconsinite to see if their name is on the list by visiting www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov.”

The large newspaper printing only prints the names of those who have unclaimed property reported to the office in 2008, while the website lists over thirty years worth of unclaimed property.

Unclaimed property can be in the form of an uncashed checks, utility deposits, security deposits, stocks, bonds, dividend checks, and even items found in abandoned safe deposit boxes. After a business has held an unclaimed property for a number of years, by law they must turn it over to the Office of the State Treasurer where it is held until the rightful owner comes forward to claim the item.

Last year, a record amount of $28 million in unclaimed property was paid out to more than 25,000 claimants.

“We have assets which belong to citizens in every city and village across the state,” said Treasurer Sass. “If your name appears in one of the newspaper publications or in our online database, please take the time to see if the property belongs to you. I am dedicated to reuniting Wisconsin citizens with their lost assets.”

If you see your name, you can request a claim form online at www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov or by calling the Office of the State Treasurer toll-free, at 1-877-699-9211.